Keep in Mind That You Should Start Therapy from the First Moment, if Possible

One of the inherent features of single-session therapy is, in my opinion, that therapy is provided to the client as soon the person seeks help. This is best operationalized in the form of open-access, enter-now services where a person can come into such a service and see a therapist on that visit for an hour of therapy. Even in the SST by appointment way of working, the person is seen as soon as possible for a single session. This is known as ‘help at the point of need’ as opposed to ‘help at the point of appointment availability’. With this in mind, a major goal of the therapist who works in independent practice and of the agency that offers SST should be to remove all barriers to beginning therapy as quickly as possible. This is why SST therapists do not take a history from the client, undertake a person-based assessment with the client or do a case formulation based on all the problems and goals. It is not that these practices do not have their place in therapy, it is just that they prevent ‘therapy from moment one’ taking place.